Publication of results

 

In order to use data from the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS) for scientific purposes, each scientist must become a member of the GHS Research Consortium and thus recognise the Rules of Procedure of the GHS Research Consortium. By doing so, each scientist declares that they will comply with the principles, utilisation modalities and formalities of the interdisciplinary Research Consortium as defined in the regulations. Detailed information on access to and use of GHS study data can be found here.

The GHS Executive Committee coordinates the scientific projects. It checks the feasibility of the scientific questions of a proposed project, overlaps with existing projects and whether they are covered by the consent of the study participants. Any form of publication must be submitted to the Steering Committee with a deadline of at least ten working days for formal approval. It checks the correct presentation of the study and the naming of all sponsors.

When scientists apply for a project, a project group is defined at the beginning. With the decision to publish the results, the members of the project group - if they have made a genuine scientific contribution - are listed as authors in publications. The contributions are documented in writing for each author. The determination of authorship follows the principles of good scientific practice and the criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

The following rules apply to manuscript approval and publication:

  • The scientist responsible for the project coordinates with the project group.
  • The authors are given a reasonable amount of time to comment on and contribute to the manuscript.
  • The completed manuscript is submitted to the steering committee for formal review. At least ten working days are available for the review.
  • A final approval of the manuscript will be communicated to the project management in writing by the GHS study management.

The GHS Research Consortium is always included in the list of authors for all publications. The following applies in detail:

  1. For projects that use the structure and data of the GHS, the GHS Research Consortium is included in the list of authors.
  2. All members of the GHS Research Consortium who fulfil the criteria for authorship according to Good Scientific Practice and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) must be named in the list of authors to ensure appropriate recognition of the scientific work and listing by third-party indexers.
  3. An author can be listed both in the main author list and in the list of the GHS Research Consortium members in a separate section of the article.
  4. The GHS Research Consortium is listed as a relevant contribution in the author list through its contribution to the development and conduct of the scientific study. This applies regardless of whether all members of the consortium have actively participated in the scientific project at hand and thus formally fulfil the criteria for authorship.